megilleland

Any news about your meeting Jim?

Hereford Times: NEWS RSS FEED 6:02am Sunday 20th April 2014 in News Why is this a prerequisite. Is it about planning or finance?

Thanks. Couldn't see it for looking.

17th April 2014 No planning applications affecting the city this week

Interesting applications concerning Left Bank, Cyclelink and land to the east of Aylestone Hill. Not sure where you find the online comment form?

From Council Newsroom 16th April 2014

Just come back from a Civic Society meeting where a professional architect said that in his 40 years of living in Herefordshire he has yet to meet a county councillor with any vision. I would go as far to say that those who think they possess any vision are already blinkered. I couldn't see what he was talking about!

Anyone going tonight?

Council approves land and building transfer 15 April 2014 Herefordshire Council Newsroom I can see a public inquiry on the horizon.

I read this diatribe and it felt like I was sitting in a traffic jam getting nowhere. I am really concerned that we are being run by people who haven't a clue on communicating with the public and cannot tell us in plain English what they plan to do. No doubt this smoke screen is what they are directed to do by those above ie central government and these LTBs themselves haven't a clue what their role is in this pantomine of jargon. Not long now before our local councils are wound up, with all assets sold and responsibilities transferred elsewhere. I'll be down at the polling station on 22nd May and voting to get out of the EU, where all this nonsense is generated, and the we know what is best for you approach. I can here them saying: "Just pay your council tax, national taxes and EU subscription (£55 million a day) and shut up.

Unfortunately this is the way we are going. It is being promoted by the government through a project called Locality. Unless you are on the list of key figures who views are sort, the authorities wont want to speak to you.

If anyone wants to see what happens to black bags when they get put out 4 to 5 days before collection (onTuesday) just have a walk through Sherborne Close, behind the electricity sub station, to Muir Close. It looks really third world - a total disgrace. We will have people picking through it next. What is Herefordshire Housing playing at. They have been told enough times about this problem. Maybe its time to go to Environmental Health and/or get them into court to solve this nuisance. A sofa which was dumped at the back of the sub-station has now miraculously transferred itself to the back of houses in Muir Close. Maybe it got bored sitting there for the last 2 weeks. It appears that Herefordshire Housing and the Council are deliberately running down the area by ignoring the problems that a few people are creating. Maybe they want to knock this area down and build some more new houses with government grants. What with Balfour Beatty making street cleaners redundant it looks as if we will be up to our necks in litter, dog s*it, flytipping and abandoned cars, but by leaving the grassed areas uncut for weeks on end maybe we won't see it! If anyone can get a picture of the mess in Sherborne and paste it on here, maybe those in power will realise how bad it is. Have a look at ongoing topic "I told you it would get worse".

Hereford Times: 6:02am Thursday 10th April 2014 in Letters: Elected from within the council - not by the public. How much money is HC spending through this quango and where are there any up to date minutes on their meetings - the last ones being posted on 1st November 2012? Is this going to be another Hereford Futures set up, except on a larger scale.

Hereford Times 8:00am Saturday 5th April 2014 in Letters in case people have not read this:

From the National Planning Policy Framework March 2012 Department for Communities and Local Government 12. Conserving and enhancing the historic environment 126. Local planning authorities should set out in their Local Plan a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment, including heritage assets most at risk through neglect, decay or other threats. In doing so, they should recognise that heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and conserve them in a manner appropriate to their significance. In developing this strategy, local planning authorities should take into account: * the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation; * the wider social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits that conservation of the historic environment can bring; * the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness; and * opportunities to draw on the contribution made by the historic environment to the character of a place. 127. When considering the designation of conservation areas, local planning authorities should ensure that an area justifies such status because of its special architectural or historic interest, and that the concept of conservation is not devalued through the designation of areas that lack special interest. 128. In determining applications, local planning authorities should require an applicant to describe the significance of any heritage assets affected, including any contribution made by their setting. The level of detail should be proportionate to the assets’ importance and no more than is sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal on their significance. As a minimum the relevant historic environment record should have been consulted and the heritage assets assessed using appropriate expertise where necessary. Where a site on which development is proposed includes or has the potential to include heritage assets with archaeological interest, local planning authorities should require developers to submit an appropriate desk-based assessment and, where necessary, a field evaluation. 129. Local planning authorities should identify and assess the particular significance of any heritage asset that may be affected by a proposal (including by development affecting the setting of a heritage asset) taking account of the available evidence and any necessary expertise. They should take this assessment into account when considering the impact of a proposal on a heritage asset, to avoid or minimise conflict between the heritage asset’s conservation and any aspect of the proposal. 130. Where there is evidence of deliberate neglect of or damage to a heritage asset the deteriorated state of the heritage asset should not be taken into account in any decision. 131. In determining planning applications, local planning authorities should take account of: * the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation; * the positive contribution that conservation of heritage assets can make to sustainable communities including their economic vitality; and * the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness. 132. When considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset’s conservation. The more important the asset, the greater the weight should be. Significance can be harmed or lost through alteration or destruction of the heritage asset or development within its setting. As heritage assets are irreplaceable, any harm or loss should require clear and convincing justification. Substantial harm to or loss of a grade II listed building, park or garden should be exceptional. Substantial harm to or loss of designated heritage assets of the highest significance, notably scheduled monuments, protected wreck sites, battlefields, grade I and II* listed buildings, grade I and II* registered parks and gardens, and World Heritage Sites, should be wholly exceptional. 133. Where a proposed development will lead to substantial harm to or total loss of significance of a designated heritage asset, local planning authorities should refuse consent, unless it can be demonstrated that the substantial harm or loss is necessary to achieve substantial public benefits that outweigh that harm or loss, or all of the following apply: * the nature of the heritage asset prevents all reasonable uses of the site; and * no viable use of the heritage asset itself can be found in the medium term through appropriate marketing that will enable its conservation; and * conservation by grant-funding or some form of charitable or public ownership is demonstrably not possible; and * the harm or loss is outweighed by the benefit of bringing the site back into use. 134. Where a development proposal will lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset, this harm should be weighed against the public benefits of the proposal, including securing its optimum viable use. 135. The effect of an application on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application. In weighing applications that affect directly or indirectly non designated heritage assets, a balanced judgement will be required having regard to the scale of any harm or loss and the significance of the heritage asset. 136. Local planning authorities should not permit loss of the whole or part of a heritage asset without taking all reasonable steps to ensure the new development will proceed after the loss has occurred. 137. Local planning authorities should look for opportunities for new development within Conservation Areas and World Heritage Sites and within the setting of heritage assets to enhance or better reveal their significance. Proposals that preserve those elements of the setting that make a positive contribution to or better reveal the significance of the asset should be treated favourably. 138. Not all elements of a World Heritage Site or Conservation Area will necessarily contribute to its significance. Loss of a building (or other element) which makes a positive contribution to the significance of the Conservation Area or World Heritage Site should be treated either as substantial harm under paragraph 133 or less than substantial harm under paragraph 134, as appropriate, taking into account the relative significance of the element affected and its contribution to the significance of the Conservation Area or World Heritage Site as a whole. 139. Non-designated heritage assets of archaeological interest that are demonstrably of equivalent significance to scheduled monuments, should be considered subject to the policies for designated heritage assets. 140. Local planning authorities should assess whether the benefits of a proposal for enabling development, which would otherwise conflict with planning policies but which would secure the future conservation of a heritage asset, outweigh the disbenefits of departing from those policies. 141. Local planning authorities should make information about the significance of the historic environment gathered as part of plan-making or development management publicly accessible. They should also require developers to record and advance understanding of the significance of any heritage assets to be lost (wholly or in part) in a manner proportionate to their importance and the impact, and to make this evidence (and any archive generated) publicly accessible. However, the ability to record evidence of our past should not be a factor in deciding whether such loss should be permitted. Do we have a Local Plan for the City Centre?

Let me oblige gdj:

Here is somebody that thinks Hereford Council isn't selling off its assets fast enough. I am not surprised it's the Conservative dogma again. But then HC are not selling its assets - just giving them away. “Don't be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.“ —Steve Jobs, “Commencement Address at Stanford University“ American Rhetoric (delivered June 12, 2005)

UKIP national party hails smashing of “undemocratic†cabinet system in Norfolk It's nice to know that we are not the only ones unhappy with the way our local authorities are run.

Hereford Times 1:37pm Monday 7th April 2014 in News By Bill Tanner Can't this council do anything other than create car parks all over the place. How about some green spaces for a change. Why a National Express stop in a parking bay on Commercial Road surely it needs to be part of a transport hub. Why dump passengers in a busy street with lots of traffic to contend with?

Not sure if you could go to the Local Government Ombudsman concerning lack of transparency regarding the disposal of assets. What we are now witnessing, with the present disposal of public assets, is the same thing that happened when public open space was transferred to Registered Social Landlords in 2002, who now regard the open space as a land bank for future building. Here is the Ombudsman's website with some recent decisions made regarding Land, Commercial and contracts and Councillor conduct and standards. Making a complaint If you have a complaint, the first thing to do is complain to the council or care provider. You can find out how to complain from the council or care provider, or you can ask a councillor to help, if your complaint is against a council. In most cases, the body complained about must have a chance to sort out the complaint before we can consider it. Councils and care providers often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure. You will usually need to complete all stages before we will look at your complaint. See our 'top tips' for making a complaint. Throughout this section we sometimes use the term ‘body’ to refer to the council, other authority, or care provider you are complaining about. (See the adult social care section for further details about complaints about adult social care.) If you need any help – call our helpline on 0300 061 0614. It is open from 8.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. (Calls to 03 numbers will cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01or 02) from both mobiles and landlines, and will be included as part of any inclusive call minutes or discount schemes in the same way as geographic calls. Please note that calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes.) It appears here the Ombudsman cannot question what a council has done simply because you do not agree with it. Something affecting all or most of the people living in a council’s area, such as a complaint that the council has wasted public money. There must be some fault by the body that has caused you significant personal injustice. However they then go on to say: The Public Interest Test We are more likely to investigate a complaint where: * It relates to an issue of significant public interest or to an issue of current concern to the Ombudsman. * It relates to the abuse of power by a public body against a person. This may arise, for example, where a council behaves in an arbitrary and unreasonable manner over the sale of land. In these situations we have an important role in addressing the unequal balance of power between the person and the state, and in highlighting the higher standards expected of public bodies when exercising their administrative or commercial powers. Some interesting decisions here:

UKIP want to get us out of Europe and stop our lives being ruined from Brussels. Were already lumped in The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership with Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, that's why we can't get any sensible output from our local council - they no longer make the decisions. Even the Cabinet is told what to do by those higher up or elsewhere. Look at the Bath Street fiasco and how this is developing - it's not a cabinet running the county, but a cabal. Definition of cabal: a small group of intriguers, esp one formed for political purposes a secret plot, esp a political one; conspiracy; intrigue a secret or exclusive set of people; clique

Jim in the BB job description above (post 23) for Locality Stewards, BB are creating 13 positions for 9 Localities. Can you tell me how these posts are going to be distributed across the county - where are the other 4 going? You mention that things will still be reported the same way to bblivingplaces. Can you explain how this works?. Will residents be able to have direct contact with BB? How are these Locality Stewards going to work with these other agencies on our estates. Our grass is cut by three different organisations and they all pass the buck if you raise issues with them. localities_map.pdf

MEETING: CABINET MEETING DATE: 10 APRIL 2014 TITLE OF REPORT: CLOSEDOWN OF HEREFORD FUTURES REPORT BY: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MANAGER item 7. CLOSEDOWN OF HEREFORD FUTURES To obtain approval to the arrangements put in place to accomplish the close down of Hereford Futures Ltd (HFL) on a solvent basis and to manage the effective operation of ongoing projects. Recommendations THAT: a) the transfer of HFL obligations to Herefordshire Council (as outlined at paragraph 6 below) be approved; b) delegated authority be given to the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate, in consultation with the Solicitor to the Council, to finalise and sign the necessary documentation to effect the transfer of obligations arising from recommendation a) above, including any necessary variation to the joint venture agreement with Homes and Communities Agency; and c) the role and efforts of HFL board members throughout the board’s period of operation is recognised and thanks be extended to the board. Reasons for Recommendations 2. Following the close down of Hereford Futures Ltd there will be a number of outstanding obligations which will need to be continued to ensure the smooth operation of a number of projects which contribute significantly to the council’s corporate plan. Additionally there will be ongoing financial, legal and operational implications of continuing with the projects, these will need to be managed and brought back to Cabinet or Cabinet Member as and when a decision is required. I wonder if there are any golden hand shakes or enhanced pensions being given out for any HFL board members on their departure?

Terms one comes across in the above document: Herefordshire Partnership Shared Services Venture Integrated Care Organisation Herefordshire Pathfinder GP Consortia Rising to the Challenge transformation programme being undertaken by Herefordshire Public Services (HPS) Reaching the Hearts of Herefordshire The Big Society National Citizen Service for 16 year olds Localism Bill Community Infrastructure Levy Sustainable Communities Act 2011 Charter ‘A Shared Community – working relationships in Local Government in Herefordshire’ Parish Plans All this just to get the grass cut regularly and the litter picked up.